Most people end up living with the same smartphone for around two years. Usually the priciest phones out there can boast great performance, camera, value and support. Look beyond these costly contenders. With the year coming to a close and the next stash of innovative devices a few months away, Samsung has made a good move with the Galaxy A70s.

It has the same overall design of premium Samsung phones, the productivity tools demanded by a user whose life goes far beyond a nine-to-five routine, a battery that’s not a let-down and a camera set-up which protects the user from a need to upgrade for a long time.

Design

If a big screen is on your mind, then the 6.7-inch FHD+ sAMOLED display will not disappoint. It’s just what the bigwigs at Netflix or Amazon would recommend. Obviously a big screen translates into a two-hand operation, which at the same time distinguishes the phone from the A50/A50s. Keeping up with the front screen is the Prism Crush White finish on the rear. The glossy finish is something that would make you not buy a phone cover but then it’s a great magnet for fingerprints.

There are quite a few tricks in the display settings menu to make the colours pop on the screen, like changing the screen mode from natural to vivid or using the colour slider to change the colour temperature. Even though the Infinity-U Notch is very much there, it’s too small to come in the way of viewing videos or scrolling through photographs.

Imaging

The biggest bump in the spec sheet comes in the form of the 64MP+8MP+5MP rear camera set-up with the option to shoot photos at full resolution. The photographs are vivid in daylight and there is a noticeable improvement in night photography. As usual, the ultra-wide 123-degree angle shots come out tops with very little conical effect, while in way of video, one can capture in 4K. Also, it’s possible to shoot videos in ultra-wide mode (in FHD). Coming to the front, the 32MP selfie shooter does a fantastic job both in terms of photo and video.

Performance

Here’s a story. My dad, who is pushing 70, stayed miles away from smartphones even three years ago. What’s the point, he felt. Now, he almost slobbers over his smartphone more than his breakfast plate. What gives? He realised smartphones help. The music player can play his selection of Brian Hyland and Connie Francis. The camera can take memorable snaps. Social media helps him stay in touch with his teeth-losing friends. So now he wants more. Armed with the A70s for 24 hours, he realised there is so much more if he decides to upgrade — the triple camera set-up can once again revive the amateur photographer in him. The sound is booming enough to waken his fragile hearing. And there is enough storage GBs to make one forget about taking multimedia from different sources to the trash. In short, the A70s gave him more digital teeth.

On the other end of the spectrum, I end up using the phone keying in articles, watching videos on the go and playing this and that games like Modern Strike, Virtual Tennis Challenge and GTA Golf. Despite being powered by a Snapdragon 675 octa-core processor, there is no noticeable lag and the big screen, in fact, makes gaming fun. What we like to see — and probably would in the coming months — is a higher screen refresh rate.

Packed with a 4,500mAh battery, there is enough power to last more than a day. In the pack is a 25W fast charger, which can easily pump it up in around one-and-a-half hours. A quibble: Since the cable has USB-C connectors on both ends, one would require a different cable to hook the device up to a PC.

Verdict

Yes, if one already has the Galaxy A70, which launched only a few months ago (and is a perfectly good device), why upgrade to the A70s? One may question the Snapdragon 675 but one must remember it’s a great chipset which delivers great experience.

It is the chase towards the perfect smartphone that keeps us moving from one device to another. What the A70s captures well is the company’s quest towards making the best of mobile technology available to a wider audience. Once hooked to the company’s One UI and the 64MP primary camera, it’s difficult to let go. If a recent Galaxy S series phone is already in your pocket, the A70s would be the device to recommend to a friend, colleague or family member. There is enough spunk in the Galaxy A70s to keep everyone happy.